la disparition

in 2001, i started a (slowly growing) collection of translations of la disparition —the epitomical oulipian work— written by georges perec using the lipogramcontrainte (excluding one or more letters of the alphabet).

due to the constrained nature of this novel, each work of translation is actually a re-writing of the book itself. for instance, the choice of lipogrammed letter depends on its frequency of usage. the spanish version (lipogram on a) was written by various translating teams (including the german translator of la disparition) and their students over the course of ten years. academic papers have been written about this process.

la disparition is then, the quintessential untranslatable novel and each of its versions are beautiful reminders (and fetishes) of it.

i don't actively search for these translations, most of them have been given and all have been bought at the country of translation. i have never read la disparition nor any of its translations.